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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Did Richard Reid Get Instructions Over Internet?
Aired January 21, 2002 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: Did alleged shoe bomber Richard Reid get his instructions over the Internet? How do terrorist cells keep in touch, as authorities race against time to trace them?
Do the pictures tell the story? International protests over the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Why is Cuba strangely silent?
Cracking the code. What could investigators learn from a genetic blueprint of the deadly anthrax sent through the mail?
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RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Thrill-seekers, conversationalists, fun lovers, and appreciators of medical marvels, all across the prudent plane. You are listening...
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BLITZER: A high-tech implant lets Rush Limbaugh hear his own show again.
Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Today, new reports the so-called shoe bomb suspect may have had marching orders. We've now learned some details of his e-mail exchanges. Police sources say Richard Reid sent an e-mail to someone in Pakistan explaining security agents had stopped him from boarding his assigned flight, and asking what he should do next. The answer came back right away, reminding him of his mission and instructing him to take the next plane from Paris to Miami. We'll have more details on this and his other e-mail exchanges in just a moment, right after we check this hour's latest developments.
International Red Cross officials today interviewed Afghan detainees at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as more prisoners arrived at the camp. The U.S. military says the al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are being treated humanely. Several human rights groups and politicians have voiced concern over conditions at the camp.
The United Nations estimates Afghanistan will need about $15 billion over the next decade to recover and rebuild after years of war. A donors conference got under way today in Tokyo to help gather pledges for the reconstruction. The United States is promising almost $300 million, with an additional $400 million for humanitarian aid.
Investigators are on the verge of cracking the genetic sequencing of the anthrax strain that killed five people in the United States. That's according to a source close to the federal investigation. Solving the sequence could narrow down which lab or labs produced the deadly bacterium, and when the strain was made.
Now back to the case of the alleged shoe bomber. Authorities say Richard Reid, the man suspected of trying to blow up an American Airlines jet last month, left a trail of cyber messages. CNN's Jim Bittermann reports it's helping investigators build their case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was at this hotel near Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris that attempted shoe bomber, Richard Reid, got his final marching orders. At the hotel business center, according to police sources, Reid sent an e-mail to Pakistan, explaining that security agents had stopped him from boarding his assigned flight. What should he do, he asked.
FREDERICK HELBERT, TERRORISM EXPERT: The answer coming back from Pakistan is saying that you have to go, you have to do it. This is your mission. You have to take the next plane going from Paris to Miami.
BITTERMAN: That next plane was the American Airlines flight that ended abruptly in Boston, after passengers overpowered Reid as he tried to set off the bombs hidden in his tennis shoes. Reid claimed he was operating on his own. But according to investigators, his e- mails prove otherwise.
He was a regular at two Paris cybercafes. The owner of this one told me he remembered Reid as tall and dirty, but he was unsure which computer Reid might have used. So the police carted off all eight of the cybercafe's hard drives as evidence. Among other messages they reportedly found was a kind of last letter to Reid's mother, explaining why he wanted to blow up the jet and urging her to convert to Islam.
(on camera): According to reports, investigators have now determined that Reid was constantly using e-mails for communications, not only from this very room, but from elsewhere in France and Belgium, as well, confirming what's long been suspected: that the Internet can provide terrorists with an efficient command and control system.
(voice-over): Thousands of Web sites like this one, according to author Roland Jacquard, permit terrorist cells and their leaders to stay in touch.
ROLAND JACQUARD, AUTHOR: They can send information. Also, they can spy the next targets, and send the video by the Internet. They can send audio messages.
BITTERMAN: But additionally, in the kind of tough neighborhoods from which Reid sent many of his e-mails, police sources tell CNN that at least 10 people were in touch with him, helping him with money and logistics.
FREDERICK HELBERT, TERRORISM EXPERT: They are convinced that there is a network. There is a logistic cell, there is an operative cell. But they did not arrest anyone.
BITTERMAN (on camera): Police here predict there could well be arrests coming soon, but sources close to the investigation say that authorities remain very worried, because the case has demonstrated that the terrorist network which gave Richard Reid his orders and his help still exists.
Jim Bitterman, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Now that investigators have found e-mail messages sent by Richard Reid, they're undoubtedly trying to discover the identity of their recipients. How can they do it? For some answers, we're joined now from Seattle by Michael Finnie. He's a so-called cybersleuth, with Computer Forensics, Inc.
Michael, thanks for joining us. Well, give us the answer. How did they do that? How did they find out the recipient of those messages that Richard Reid sent from Europe?
MICHAEL FINNIE, COMPUTER FORENSICS, INC.: Basically, Wolf, every e-mail address is unique, much like a telephone number or something else. So the service that provides the hook-up or the connection, or the e-mail address, would generally have some type of a record as to who the subscriber was, if it was sent to an e-mail that was a standard e-mail address.
Based on the completeness of their records, how long they keep them and how accurate they are, they can actually determine who the original subscriber was that was issued that e-mail address.
BLITZER: Well, assuming that he did these e-mail exchanges in December, that doesn't sound like it should be too difficult to find out with whom he was corresponding.
FINNIE: It probably won't be. Again, it is especially in countries other than the United States, it's probably very discretionary how long the service providers keep the logs and records of the various transactions, the connections to the various accounts.
BLITZER: But presumably, the recipient has some ways to disguise his or her identity. Can they hide under an address somehow?
FINNIE: It's conceivable that they could. Any time you are required to give information or provide identification, that of course can be counterfeit or fraudulent. Things can be done with cash instead of credit cards. So it is certainly possible to create an e- mail account using inaccurate information. BLITZER: The interesting development in the Richard Reid e-mail, he went to an Internet cafe, whether in Paris or in Amsterdam. Police law enforcement authorities apparently went and found the computer he was working on and found the hard drive. And from the hard drive, they could then recreate the messages he received and sent. How unusual is that?
FINNIE: That's a very common practice, Wolf. The data remains resonant on the computer for quite some time, especially when it is used over and over without any periodic maintenance being performed on it.
BLITZER: So if you go to one of these Internet cafes and you use a public computer, you better be aware of the fact that if somebody wants to find out what you were writing, what you were thinking, what you were saying, they have a way to go back there and get your innermost, confidential thoughts.
FINNIE: That's correct. It's like a postcard or graffiti sitting there on wall, in the case of a public access computer.
BLITZER: Looking for terrorists via the Internet, a cybersleuth. Michael Finnie, thanks for joining us from Seattle.
FINNIE: Thank you, sir.
BLITZER: Appreciate it very much. And ever since he was taken into custody, Richard Reid has proven to be a mystery figure. Joining us now for some insight into his state of mind is Dr. Jerrold Post. He's a psychiatrist. He's been a terrorist profiler. He teaches at George Washington University here in Washington. Former profiler, indeed, with the CIA. You profiled Osama bin Laden.
Dr. Post, thanks for joining us. Tell our viewers what makes someone do a job for a terror network, do a job apparently well. The terror network then comes back and says, you know what, you can now go kill yourself for the cause?
DR. JERROLD POST, TERRORIST PROFILER: The way I have put this together is, these are individuals who are, in effect, true believers, who have come by the charismatic message of a leader, in this case, Osama bin Laden, to see that this act is defining the cause. And their own individuality just doesn't count. They've merged in with the group.
Here was a guy whose father had been in prison for 18 years.
BLITZER: Richard Reid.
POST: Richard Reid's father, who found himself through converting to Islam. Then Richard himself had several stretches in juvenile incarceration, and was encouraged by his father to convert. But, the traveling iman was quite radical, and this was out of sight of the reform school he was in. He was discharged, and his son, in fact, after September 11, was violently anti-American, was also discharged from the same job. So he was led in the moderate mosque, where he met -- now on trial -- Zacarias Moussaoui. He was actually led into the path of radical Islam.
BLITZER: We know that those 19 hijackers who were ready, at least most of them, knew that what they were doing, they were going to die. Richard Reid apparently knew what he was doing, at least if you believe all the evidence that's been presented to date. But what kind of promises, what kind of mind-set does it take to want to die for this cause?
POST: It takes a combination of an empty life here on earth, and the promises of the highest place in paradise, being reserved for those...
BLITZER: But when you say an empty life here on earth, Mohammed Atta, the alleged ringleader of the September 11th attacks, had two graduate degrees, college educated. He had some skills. This was not necessarily strictly an empty life, a loser, a bum on the street.
POST: Well, that's quite true, but that was not the case with Reid. In fact, I think one should probably split the hijackers of September 11th into the small group of leaders, like Mohammed Atta, came from comfortable backgrounds, but were really, totally converted, almost like a religious cult, in some ways. As opposed to the lost young men like this guy, who were manipulated and shaped and almost brainwashed into this path. B
BLITZER: And if you look out there, based on your study of this, are these just a few guys out there, or are there a lot of these young men, for the most part, who are ready to die, commit suicide, as part of a bigger terrorist objective?
POST: There's a very interesting response to that by the professor in the Islamic College in London, who said, it is foolishness to think that if you cut off the head of the snake of al Qaeda, that it will wither and die. It has already laid thousands of eggs, and they are already slithering off, on their own.
BLITZER: So these guys are ready to move. And very briefly, what do they believe is going to happen once they die?
POST: They believe that they will go to paradise, or that their parents will gain prestige, and that they will be rewarded in a life of everlasting bliss.
BLITZER: And if they succeed in this effort, not only will they go to paradise, but they'll be rewarded forever, for eternity.
POST: And indeed, that is the way Atta tried to keep the people on the planes calm. The cheerful, have a smile on your face, young man, for soon you will be in paradise.
BLITZER: And we've seen a lot of these declarations on videotape, before they actually go forward with the suicide mission. They speak on videotape and they boast about what's going on.
POST: And here we had Reid telling his mother about this thing he was going to do, and hoping she would be proud of him for what he was going to do.
BLITZER: OK, Professor Post, always good to speak with you.
POST: Good to talk with you.
BLITZER: Thank you so much. And as the global fight against terrorism continues, we take a look now at what may be ahead for the United States, and how security relations in the Persian Gulf may be affected. Our guest is just back from a trip to the region. Rob Sobhani is a lecturer at Georgetown University. He specialized in U.S. policy towards the Middle East.
Rob, thanks for joining us. There is a lot of concern that there is about to be potentially a major change in the U.S.-Saudi military relationship, if the Saudi leadership asks the U.S. to pull out its troops from Saudi Arabia. How significant of a shift would that be?
ROB SOBHANI, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Obviously, it would it be a significant shift, Wolf. But I think the comments that we have been hearing from Saudi Arabia attributed to a certain quarters is mostly domestic Saudi consumption. It is used for domestic regional consumption to portray an independent Saudi foreign policy. I don't think it necessarily reflects upon U.S. Saudi relations, which, in private, and behind the public doors, are very, very strong.
BLITZER: "The Washington Post" quoted a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Chas Freeman, as saying this the other day: "For the first time since 1973, we actually have a situation in which the United States is so unpopular among the Saudi public that the royal family now thinks its security is best served by publicly distancing itself from the United States."
Is there a sense in Saudi Arabia that that is in fact what's going on?
SOBHANI: Well, if indeed that is the sentiment, it would prove to be a huge geopolitical mistake for Saudi Arabia. Because the moment the United States leaves Saudi Arabia from the Prince Sultan base south of Riyadh, it would create an enormous geopolitical vacuum in the region. And there is one person who is very interested in filling that vacuum, and his name is Saddam Hussein. And he's still in Baghdad, and he still is very capable of aggression.
BLITZER: So in other words, what you're saying is, if the U.S. were to pull out its approximately 5,000 troops from an air base, Prince Sultan base and elsewhere, in Saudi Arabia, this would be seen as a green light by the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, to pursue more aggressive measures?
SOBHANI: Absolutely. And that is why I would side on caution and actually bring up a conversation that I had recently with the foreign ministers of Bahrain, which is a very, very strong alley of the United States. Their suggestion is we, the United States, should work with the Saudi regime behind the scenes, quietly, because they do want to reform the system. They do want to change. And I think that is the message that one gets from visiting region. As I said, I just returned from Bahrain, and I had the opportunity to meet with Bahraini officials. Here is an example of an Arab country that is on the path to reform. It is possible to reform. It is possible to have democracy in Arab countries. However, it needs to be done at their pace. We cannot do it at our pace, and that's the message we need to deliver to the Saudis.
BLITZER: If, though, the U.S. were asked to leave Saudi Arabia -- and that, of course, is by no means a done deal -- but if it were, are there are alternatives in the region, Kuwait, Bahrain, as you point out. Obviously, Turkey, which is a fellow member of NATO. There a other places that could fill that void, right?
SOBHANI: Absolutely. Let's take the example of Bahrain. Pound for pound, Bahrain is the strongest ally the United States has in the region. We already have 4,000 troops there. And I returned from there, I was talking to our troops. They are very welcomed in Bahrain. They are very pro-American. The crown prince and the emir of Bahrain are very, very forward-looking. We do have a good relationship. We could shift those troops to Bahrain, and they would welcome that, actually.
BLITZER: OK, Rob Sobhani, always good to get your insight. Thank you very much.
SOBHANI: Thank you very much for having me.
BLITZER: And more detainees arrive today at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. It's the sixth group of prisoners to arrive at the detention facility in a little more than a week. Hours earlier, International Red Cross officials inspected the makeshift prison. Our national correspondent, Bob Franken, is at Guantanamo Bay. He joins us now with an update -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Red Cross inspections, Wolf, are an ongoing process. They have been here for several days. By the way, one of the fire trucks that was on the landing strip when the latest plane came in is passing by us now, which is why you're hearing all the noise.
Back to the actual arrival. Today, 14 more arrived. It means now that there are 158 who are here in Guantanamo Bay, 158 detainees, as the United States prefers to call them. These were different. These all came in on stretchers. We're told by the commanding general here, Michael Leonard, that the next emphasis will be on the most significant medical cases, trying to get them out of Kandahar, to the relatively good treatment that they can get here on Guantanamo Bay. Treatment that will comparable, we're told repeatedly, comparable to the medical services that are provided to members of the armed forces.
Meanwhile, the controversies continue over charges that the treatment of the prisoners here, the rigid security, falls below the line of international standards. That is an ongoing debate denied vigorously by the officials here. As a case in point, they say that they have decided, because of questions that have come up, to assign a Muslim cleric from the United States Navy, a Muslim cleric who is expected to arrive tomorrow or the next day, who will be an adviser to the security officials here, and also, presumably, talk to the detainees about concerns that they have. One of which was the fact that they shaved all the hair off the detainees, which outraged many Muslims.
They said they did it originally for hygiene reasons, although now medical officials say those hygiene reasons are not needed. So there is quite a bit of controversy that continues to swirl. We've heard nothing from the Red Cross, except for the fact that officials here say they are in constant contact with them, and will continue to try and improve on what they call a work in progress -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Bob, are you suggesting, are you saying that -- are they telling you they're going to be allowed to regrow their beards?
FRANKEN: They are not really saying one way or the other. What they are saying is, is that they really want to learn more about the cultural sensitivities, and adapt when it is -- quote -- "consistent with security needs." Remember, the priority here is the concern that many of these who are here are believed to be ready to kill Americans, want to at any cost. So, security is a priority. That's stated over and over.
But within those constraints, they are going to try to conform as much as they can to the standards of the Geneva Convention, which is really kind of the guiding principle of treatment of prisoners of war. Of course, the don't call them prisoners of war. But as much as possible, not letter for letter, but as much as possible, they're going to try to conform with that, as long as it doesn't jeopardize security.
BLITZER: Bob Franken at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, thanks so much for joining us.
Many expected the arrival of the Afghan detainees at Guantanamo Bay to cause another rift between the United States and Cuba. So far, it's been just the opposite. The Cuban president, Fidel Castro, has even offered medical and health assistance at the base.
For a look at the quiet cooperation between the two nations, we're joined now live by our Havana bureau chief, Lucia Newman. Lucia, give us the background. Tell us why the Cuban government of President Castro seems to be so cooperative right now.
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: Good afternoon, Wolf. Indeed, you're absolutely right. Cuba has adopted a much softer, kinder approach to its relations with its old adversary, the United States. Instead of jumping up and down with fury, it's actually offered to help the United States with the arrival of these detainees.
President Castro, first of all, told us over the weekend in a meeting with CNN, that he had been very, very pleased with what he considered the cooperation, the kind gesture from the United States, which he said had informed the Cuban government about its plans to bring in these detainees, even before it was made public. He said that that was something that was unprecedented. He also, of course, offered to bring in doctors, and even to pest control to areas around the base. There are a lot of mosquitoes, there's dengue fever in the area. He has made it clear that he wants to change somehow the tone in the relationship with the United States.
And in fact, a few hours earlier, his own brother, his younger brother Raul Castro, who's the defense minister of Cuba, was asked what Cuba would do if any of the al Qaeda or Taliban prisoners were to escape from the base into Cuba itself? And this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAUL CASTRO, DEFENSE MINISTER, CUBA (through translator): They would be captured and our government informed. Then I can tell that we will hand them back to the Americans. What are we going to do with them? That is, if they make it out alive?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWMAN: Now, President Castro is clearly starting to have a far more conciliatory tone with the United States, and this is coming at a time when this country is seeing visits by senators, by Congressmen, by business people, by opinion makers from the United States, all of them taking a fresh look at the relationship between Cuba and the United States, looking at the possibility of beginning to have normal trade with this country, of breaking down the barriers and breaking down a lot of the limitations that were imposed by the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba four decades ago.
And so Cuba seems to be seizing the opportunity of Guantanamo to try to change that relationship and soften it -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Lucia, how sensitive is the leadership in Havana to the fact that the State Department still includes Cuba as one of the official sponsors of state terrorism?
NEWMAN: Well, that's a very interesting point. And of course, they are actually relishing in what they see here is the big contradiction: how can some of the world's most dangerous terrorists be sent precisely to a country that is supposed to be sponsoring still terrorism? This points out the fact -- this makes it obvious that there is a contradiction, and that it's simply not true. Cuba argues that it is a country that has always fought against terrorism, and that it, in fact, is a victim of terrorism -- terrorism, it says, from groups within the United States, especially Florida, that have launched attacks against this country -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Lucia Newman live in Havana, thank you very much for that report. You can hear from the commander of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay tonight, live from Guantanamo, with Bob Franken. That's at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.
And, a twist in the anthrax investigation. What went missing inside a top secret lab?
And later, a spy plane sequel. Find out what's bugging China.
And, the return of Rush. How he found his way back after losing his hearing. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. There are developments today in the anthrax investigation, including a possible breakthrough in identifying the source of the strain that has killed five Americans. Our national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, is here now, and she joins us with the latest details -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it is a break that could move forward the anthrax investigation that's been under way since the first anthrax death last October: nailing down the genetic sequencing of the deadly spores sent through the mail. A government source says scientists analyzing the anthrax recovered from the Leahy letter are now close to breaking the genetic sequence of that anthrax. That finding will help determine how old the sample is, and therefore which lab was working with samples that age.
One hitch, once a lab is pinpointed, sources say, it does not mean the search ends there. Scientists have shared their samples with others doing research. Of course, it would narrow the field. The Leahy letter opened last month gave scientists the largest amount of deadly spores to examine. There wasn't much left in the three other known letters. Five people have died from inhaling anthrax. Photo editor Robert Stevens, the first victim, in Florida.
And both the Fbi and U.S. Postal Service are expected to hike the anthrax award to $2.5 million this week, nearly doubling the amount for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the anthrax killer, or killers. So, Wolf, the investigation, still far from over.
BLITZER: Susan, what about that front page story in "The Washington Post" this morning, that some anthrax -- some anthrax may have disappeared from the U.S. Army lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland, just outside of Washington?
CANDIOTTI: Right, Wolf, and this is actually a story that initially broke in the "Hartford Current" on Sunday. According to these articles, there was an internal Army investigation going on back in 1991, '92, looking into the possible disappearance, if not missing, microbes, potentially two dozen hazardous microbes, that included the anthrax spores.
And in another investigation going on as well, that from a pending lawsuit that has to deal with possible unauthorized anthrax research going on at Fort Detrick on weekends and evenings. No results that we know of, of these investigations. And there continues to be debate over whether these were potentially hazardous after all.
BLITZER: And a week ago, eight days ago, in fact, I interviewed the homeland security director, Tom Ridge, and he strongly suggested that the focus of investigation is on a domestic, U.S. homegrown terrorist or terrorists, as opposed to overseas terrorists. Is that is what your information is as well?
CANDIOTTI: Oh, yes, sources definitely say that investigators are leaning in that direction, a domestic source. Certainly the Ames strain came from here. But in looking through all the labs, that is the direction in which investigators are leaning at this time.
BLITZER: Susan Candiotti, thanks so much for that good report.
And in the last hour, President Bush signed a proclamation on this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, with Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, and President Bush called the civil rights leader a "modern American hero."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: His most powerful arguments were unanswerable, for they were the very words and principles of our declaration and Constitution. When he came to this capital city and stood before the figure of the great emancipator, he was not to assail or threaten. He had come to hold this nation to its own standards, to live out the true meaning of its creed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: In Dr. King's hometown of Atlanta: a memorial service at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the slain civil rights leader delivered his first sermon over 50 years ago. His widow introduced first lady Laura Bush, who praised Dr. King as the 20th century's greatest advocate of the American dream. Mrs. Bush, a former teacher herself, also praised Dr. King's commitment to education.
And, in Memphis, where Dr. King was assassinated, thousands marked his 73rd birthday with a parade through the city. And the lines were long to get into the National Civil Rights Museum, which is, of course, at the Lorraine Hotel, where Dr. King was shot dead while standing on the balcony on April 4, 1968.
Next here: the latest development in America's new war, including how the Taliban supreme leader reportedly avoided death. And later, the spy game: Did China catch the United States in the act? And are there consequences? And snow in a most unusual part of the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
More now on the debate over U.S. dollars to help rebuild Afghanistan. That is just ahead.
First a quick check of this hour's latest developments: The United States is facing international criticism over the treatment of detainees being held at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba. But U.S. military officials say conditions are humane amid high security. Observers from the International Red Cross interviewed detainees and inspected the camp earlier today.
Investigators say a string of e-mail may lead them to the cohorts of accused shoe-bomber Richard Reid. The French police say Reid sought advice from someone in Pakistan after airport security questioned him in Paris. Reid has said he acted alone, but investigators say the e-mail evidence proves otherwise.
John Walker may be headed back to the United States as early as tomorrow. U.S. officials say, once in the U.S., Walker likely would be handed over to the Justice Department to face his charges. He is accused of conspiring to kill Americans. Walker is currently being held in a U.S. Naval ship in the North Arabian Sea.
Wire service reports say Mullah Mohammed Omar escaped not once, but two times in a direct -- escaped a direct U.S. missile strike. The story comes from a taxi driver who says the Taliban leader fled with his second wife in his cab. He claims the first strike was on Omar's home and the second was on the taxi itself.
The world has pledged to help Afghanistan rebuild, but many say the promises are not enough. So far, the two-day conference on Afghan aid in Tokyo has raised some $2.6 billion in pledges over the next three years. The United Nations had hoped for $10 billion over five years. The United States has already promised nearly $300 million for reconstruction and is committing another $400 million for humanitarian assistance.
All told, about half of the promised aid is coming from the United States, Japan and Europe.
A Republican lawmaker from Arizona has been quoted as saying the United States can provide as much as 15 percent of the total aid Afghanistan will need over the next decade.
Congressman Jim Kolbe is a member of the House Appropriations Committee. He recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan and other countries in the region. He joins me now live.
Congressman Kolbe, thanks for joining us.
You are a member of the Appropriations Committee. How much money, in the end, is this going to cost U.S. taxpayers to help rebuild Afghanistan?
REP. JIM KOLBE (R), ARIZONA: Well, I have said all along I think somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 percent. And I think the total package over 10 years is going to be somewhere around $10 billion.
So we are probably looking at $1.5 billion, but that is spread over 10 years. So, in relation to the amount of aid we provide, for example, to Egypt and to Israel, it's going to be relatively small over the course of 10 years.
BLITZER: The U.S.' military has been spending what is estimated to be $1 billion a month conducting this war. Are any of the allies helping the United States, helping finance that military expenditure in fighting the war in Afghanistan, the war against terrorism?
KOLBE: Well, yes, they are. We have -- there are, of course, British and German troops now in Kabul. There are British and Italian ships and Japanese ships operating with our ships off the coast of Pakistan.
We have French Mirages in Tajikistan now and Uzbekistan. So there are other forces operating. We are still carrying the bulk of the load, from a military standpoint. I think that is the important point here, is that we need to think of our aid and our military as going together. It is all part of our national security budget.
BLITZER: The U.S. is obviously spending a lot more than the few billion that you are talking about in terms of economic and humanitarian assistance.
KOLBE: Absolutely.
BLITZER: You met with Hamid Karzai, the new leader of Afghanistan. Give us your impressions of this man. Is he the guy who can get the job done?
KOLBE: Well, he is a very impressive individual. But, partly, he impresses you because he spent so many years in the United States, so he speaks with an American accent. He has all of the right phrases. He talks about "you guys." And he knows how Americans think. So we can relate to him very well.
Remember, he is only the transitional -- he is not even the transition. He's only the temporary leader until they bring in the transitional government, which leads to the permanent government. Whether he will be part of the next phase, the transitional government, is up to this Loya Jirga, this council of the Muslim elders that will make that decision.
Can he do the job for the next six months? I think he is the right person to do it. He has the confidence of the United States, which is of absolute importance. And he seems to have the confidence of the Tajiks and Uzbeks and the Pashtuns. He is a Pashtun himself, but he seems to have the confidence of the Tajiks and the Uzbeks as well. So I think he can do the job.
BLITZER: And you were in Pakistan. Does he also have the confidence of the Pakistani leadership?
KOLBE: Well, he definitely mistrusts the Pakistanis, but I think General Musharraf, President Musharraf, does trust him. I think he has a good deal of trust in this guy. You've got to remember, the Pakistanis are the ones who created the Taliban. They are the ones who supported them. So there is not a lot of good feeling, a lot of goodwill, between the Afghans and the Pakistanis right now.
BLITZER: Congressman Kolbe, welcome back from Afghanistan and Pakistan, Tajikistan, and some of the other stans. I know you were in Italy as well. Good to have you on the program.
KOLBE: Thank you very much.
BLITZER: Thank you very much.
And did the United States allow the airlift of Pakistanis from Afghanistan to become an escape route for Taliban and al Qaeda leaders? Find out tonight here in the CNN "War Room." I will talk, among others, to the investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. That is at 7:00 Eastern, 4:00 Pacific.
And, by the way, you can participate. Simply go to my Web page, CNN.com/Wolf. Click the icon "Send Questions." I will get as many of them answered by my panel possible. You can also, by the way, read my daily online column there at CNN.com/Wolf.
Let's check some other stories now making news around the world: Israeli forces today took control of the West Bank city of Tulkarem, saying it's a center for terrorist activities. Palestinian security sources say three people were killed and eight people wounded after Israeli troops moved in. Israeli tanks also occupied a portion of Ramallah after clashes with Palestinian forces.
And former President Bill Clinton is calling the recent months of Middle East violence a -- quote -- "terrible mistake." Mr. Clinton made the comments while visiting Israel, where he received an honorary degree from Tel Aviv University. His administration proposed a framework for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The former president said Yasser Arafat -- quote -- "missed a golden opportunity to make that agreement."
And the arrival of U.S. troops for a joint military exercise to fight Muslim rebels in the Philippines is prompting demonstrations. Some protesters said American troops have no place in their country. Manila says the U.S. forces will only train Filipinos and won't be involved in combat.
And lava from a volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed more victims. It caused a huge explosion at a gas station in Goma, killing at least 30 people. More refugees are returning to the city despite warnings from aid officials to stay away. They say the volcano is still extremely dangerous.
For months you could hear him, but he couldn't hear you. Now Rush Limbaugh has conquered an occupational hazard. Learn who helped when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
Now to reports of bugging devices discovered on China's presidential jet: "The Washington Post" and "The Financial Times" report more than 20 listening devices were found on the U.S.-built Boeing 767. Washington and Beijing refused to confirm or deny the reports. But the secretary of state, Colin Powell, said he expects Beijing to focus on larger issues facing its relationship with the United States. Beijing bought the plane over a year ago for the president, Jiang Zemin. Previously, he chartered planes for long flights.
For more now on this issue, we are joined by "The Financial Times" correspondent Betty Liu. Betty, thanks so much for joining us.
Will this have a huge impact on the U.S.-China relationship in the coming weeks and months?
BETTY LIU, "THE FINANCIAL TIMES": Well, you know what is funny, Wolf, is every time an event like this happens between the U.S. and China, that question is always asked: Is this going to halt relations between the two countries? Is this going to jeopardizes it? And the answer repeatedly is no.
And I think the reason for that is that the U.S. recognizes that China is a rising superpower and it needs to be dealt with accordingly. And, at the same time, the Chinese recognize that they need the U.S. as an ally and they need the U.S. to succeed in this global economy.
BLITZER: "The Los Angeles Times" quoted a Brookings Institution scholar yesterday as saying this: "Imagine what the reaction would have been like in our country if we had discovered that the Chinese had bugged Air Force One. We are the most important single relationship China has. And they are going to go a long way to make sure the relationship remains stable."
Obviously, Gates Bill seems to agree with your assessment that, despite the embarrassment, the big-picture relationship will stay intact.
LIU: Well, absolutely.
And I think it's important to remember that it is inconclusive yet as to who it was planted the bugs on the airplane. And it could very well be that it was an internal action, that it could very well be that somebody within the Chinese government or the Chinese military or individuals who want to be subversive to President Jiang's regime. So, at this point, it is inconclusive. And it's hard for China to come out and blame the U.S. and make a big deal out about this.
BLITZER: Well, if in fact that happened, if somebody inside China tried to undermine the U.S.-China relationship by planting bugs and blaming the United States, why wouldn't the Bush administration just simply come out and flatly deny the story?
LIU: Well, I think because, with U.S. and China relations, there is always an intricate and complicated undertone to it. Yes, it could be an internal organization that might have done this, but they might have gotten the help from some U.S. officials or from private U.S. individuals in the U.S., because, after all, the plane did go through the U.S. system. It went through Boeing, through several companies within Texas and Seattle.
So, it could very well have been helped by private U.S. individuals. So the U.S. does not want to make such a bold stance as to deny it altogether.
BLITZER: This comes on the heels, of course, of the mistaken U.S. bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, as you remember. It comes on the heels of EP-3 plane that was detained on Hainan Island in China. Despite all of that, the relationship seems to always bounce back.
On the scale of things, how big of a potential strain in the relationship is this latest incident?
LIU: This probably will not be a big potential strain at this point. I think that the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade was a much bigger deal than this is right now. And we are coming up on the one-year anniversary of the spy plane incident. And that, in many senses, is a much bigger deal than this.
People at that time were talking about perhaps the coming of a new Cold War era. So this is probably going to pass away. And you have seen U.S. and Chinese officials over the past weekend try to downplay this incident. And I think that they are going to succeed.
BLITZER: Betty Liu of "The Financial Times," thanks for that insight.
LIU: Thank you.
And for quite some time, listeners, of course, could do something a popular radio host could not do. Coming up: Rush Limbaugh's hearing comeback.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
We all know how much Rush Limbaugh can talk, but it was his hearing that had him and his fans concerned. Last October, Limbaugh announced an autoimmune inner disease left him nearly deaf. Today Limbaugh said a cochlear implant finally allowed him to hear his own show for the first time in months.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW")
RUSH LIMBAUGH, HOST: Greetings to you thrill-seekers, conversationalists, fun-lovers and appreciators of medical marvels all across the fruited plain. You are listening to -- and so am I for the first time in -- what is it? Is this three months or maybe four that I'm actually able to hear this show? So I, ladies and gentlemen, will be able to join you for the first time in four months via a medical marvel, some say miracle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Limbaugh says it will be months before he knows exactly how much of his hearing has been restored.
And joining us now for insight to help us learn more of how this implant works, our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He is with us today, of course, from Atlanta.
Sanjay, what is a cochlear implant? What does that do?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: A cochlear implant is a pretty remarkable sort of technological piece of equipment here, Wolf.
Yes, we've got the picture there.
Basically, it is an implant that goes straight from the outside of your skin, outside the ear, bypasses the external ear and the middle ear and goes straight to the inner ear. There in the inner ear is where you find a lot of different nerve cells that conduct sound to the brain and allow people to discriminate voices, environmental sounds, things like that.
Here, as you can see in the diagram, the conduction is allowed to go straight from outside, via a microphone and a sound processor, directly to the inner ear. Now, a cochlear implant does allow people to hear noise. It takes some time before you can actually discriminate voices and actually be able to discriminate environmental sounds. But it certainly allows sound of up to 50 percent more than without a cochlear implant.
BLITZER: And Rush Limbaugh's hearing loss is attributed, Sanjay, to a disease known as AIED. What is that disease?
GUPTA: Wolf, this is a pretty rare disease. It affects less than 1 percent of the people who have hearing loss. It stands for autoimmune inner ear disease.
Basically, in a nutshell, what this is, Wolf, is, when the body for some reason -- one reason or another -- thinks that components of the inner ear, some of the cells of the inner ear, are foreign. And it starts to attack them. Why exactly this occurs no one is really sure. Sometimes it can be treated with medication, such as steroids. Unfortunately, in the case of Limbaugh, those medications did not work.
BLITZER: I was listening to his program today, as I often do. And he said there was no guarantee that this procedure was going to work. In fact, there is no predicting who will benefit from it and who will not. Apparently, he has benefited from it. Will he completely regain his hearing, though?
GUPTA: Right.
And a lot of that, Wolf, has to do not only with the procedure itself, but also the auditory or hearing rehabilitation. Again, the sort of noises that one would hear with a cochlear implant are very different than what you are used to hearing. It takes quite a bit of time to be able to take that sound, that noise that you are hearing, and be able to discriminate that into voices and into environmental sounds.
So a lot of the -- quote, unquote -- success of a cochlear implant depends not only the procedure itself, but also on that rehabilitation. And that could take some time.
BLITZER: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much for joining us.
GUPTA: Thank you.
BLITZER: I think I speak for all of us -- whether you agree with Rush Limbaugh or not, we are all happy that he is at least getting some of his hearing, if not all of his hearing back some time soon. Thanks very much, Sanjay, for joining us.
GUPTA: Thank you.
BLITZER: And there is nothing at all unusual, of course, about snow, except in a few places. Coming up: a story that is showing up on the radar.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Now checking these stories on today's "Newswire": A House committee hearing testimony about the collapse of energy-trading giant Enron may hear from the Arthur Andersen attorney who wrote a memo outlining the firm's document destruction policy. The hearing is set for Thursday.
The supplier that provides Kmart with all its grocery items is halting shipments, saying it hasn't been paid. The Texas-based Fleming companies say only perishable items already on route will be delivered to Kmart stores. The financially faltering discount retailer is facing possible bankruptcy after a disappointing holiday season.
The 13,000-foot summit and slopes of Hawaii's Mauna Kea are dusted with snow after a winter storm blew in. The National Weather Service had predicted freezing temperatures, snow and sleet. Several inches of the white stuff came down, giving folks in Hawaii a rare opportunity to make snowmen -- Buffalo and Hawaii, something in common.
And I'll be back in one hour with the CNN "War Room," where I will speak with Seymour Hersh about his new report in "The New Yorker" that the United States may have helped al Qaeda and Taliban leaders escape Afghanistan. That's at 7:00 Eastern, 4:00 Pacific.
Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. CNN's coverage of America's new war continues with "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE." That begins right now.
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